Death Row Games
Six death row inmates. One remote island. Only one goes free.
Brooklyn Winters is awaiting execution when she's offered a brutal choice: compete in a deadly survival game with five other prisoners, or die in prison. On the island, alliances shift, betrayals cut deep, and every decision could mean life or death.
Death Row Games is a ruthless, fast-paced thriller about survival, sacrifice, and how far someone will go when freedom is the prize.
- Brooklyn, Eddy, Jillian, Ronny, Hans, Sven - Inmates, competitors in the games
- Zuri - Eddy's wife
- Ruby - Eddy's daughter
- Howard - Owner of the island and orchestrator of the game
- Collin - Howard's son
- Andy - Brooklyn's father
- Anonymous - Mysterious figure in a bear pelt hunting the inmates
- Background: As a young girl Brooklyn lives in a cabin in the woods with Andy who tells her that he is escaping from bad people who want to hurt them.
- Brooklyn and Andy are eventually caught; Andy goes to prison, Brooklyn enters foster care.
- Present day: The six inmates are dropped onto the island with minimal supplies to fend for themselves until only one remains.
- Hans finds and attacks Eddy, but Eddy fights back and kills him.
- Anonymous chases and catches Jillian.
- Brooklyn and Eddy spot a strange creature in the woods that looks like a bear, but Eddy realizes it's actually a man wearing a bear's head as a mask (anonymous).
- Eddy realizes this person can't be part of the game and the game is rigged.
- Anonymous starts chasing Brooklyn but Collin saves her.
- Collin says the game rules are a lie: his father brings people to this island to hunt them and no one leaves alive.
- Collin lets Brooklyn sleep in his tiny shack.
- Brooklyn wakes up in a cell with Jillian and she realizes Collin tricked her.
- Eddy sees Collin shoot Ronny with a dart and then drag his limp body inside his cabin.
- Eddy finds a trapdoor in Collin's cabin.
- Collin forces Ronny and Brooklyn to fight; Brooklyn kills Ronny.
- Brooklyn and Jillian overpower Collin and he ends up dead.
- Eddy walks in and finds the girls.
- Jillian, Eddy and Brooklyn find a tunnel that leads into Howard's house.
- Jillian is shot with a crossbow while the three are exploring Howard's yard.
- Brooklyn and Eddy retreat back into the house.
- Sven, the only other remaining inmate enters the house.
- Eddy finds Howard's death certificate while snooping around the house.
- Sven attacks Brooklyn but she fights back and kills him.
- Ten days earlier, Collin approached Sven, saying his father had died and offering $2 million and freedom if Sven helped hunt the inmates with him.
- Sven was anonymous and had been on Collin's side all along.
- Eddy and Brooklyn spend 18 days cracking Howard's safe and retrieve $3 million.
- They take Howard's yacht and sail to Mexico.
- Zuri and Ruby fly to Mexico to reunite with Eddy.
- Brooklyn has been unsuccessful in locating Andy and decides to hire someone to help find him.
- The final reveal: Andy had previously worked in a gang and wasn't the honorable man he claimed to be, but when he learned that Brooklyn's mother had died, leaving behind their daughter, he left his criminal life behind and kidnapped Brooklyn at age two to raise her himself in a cabin in the woods until his capture.
The concept hooked me right away, and the pacing stayed medium-to-fast, which kept things moving. There were plenty of twists, but most were predictable, and the ending didn’t quite live up to the high energy of the rest of the book. Overall, it was a fun, quick read, but the finale left me underwhelmed.
- Hans - Dead - Head bashed in with a rock by Eddy
- Ronny - Dead - Killed by Brooklyn in self-defense during an attempted assault
- Collin - Dead - Strangled by Brooklyn
- Jillian - Dead - Shot with a crossbow by Sven
- Sven - Dead - Throat slit by Brooklyn
- Eddy - Alive - Escaped to Mexico with Zuri and Ruby
- Brooklyn - Alive - Also living in Mexico
- Andy - Unknown - Presumed still in prison
- Addiction
- Confinement
- Death
- Sexual assault
- Rape
- Torture
- Kidnapping
Ambiguous
Publisher: Red Raven Publishing
ISBN: 9781990775543
Publication Date: December 27, 2024
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
